Mission accomplished

For the last two months, I have been struggling to complete the final cycle of Mean Stream. The project, which I was able to complete because of the generous support of the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, is an epic that covers three generations. I wrote the last verse this afternoon and have just finished formatting the manuscript.

This project has absorbed an enormous amount of energy over the last year. The first two cycles went on paper without any struggle at all and were both complete by May. The last cycle, though, proved much more difficult to write. Also, the project had evolved by the time I had started to third cycle. The original plan was to write the third cycle from the viewpoint of one daughter. The last poem was planned to be the grandmother's funeral from the viewpoint of that child.

I ended up writing the third cycle from the viewpoint of three children, with one having a major role. The last poem centers around an impromtu wake that takes place in a bar.

I am relieved to have completed this project. I will sit on it one more day, read it over one last time, and send the manuscript on to the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation with my heartfelt thanks.